Search results for: retroshift

Ever dreamt of putting a mountain bike drivetrain on your drop bar bike. You know, to create the ultimate adventure bike with wide range gearing and a fast front end?

Gevenalle has expanded their line of index-or-friction shifter equipped brake lever with the new GX model, which pulls just the right amount of cable to keep an XT rear derailleur in line with your MTB cassette. It’s compatible with Shimano’s modern clutch-equipped DynaSys and Shadow Plus 10-speed rear derailleurs with a cassette capability up to 36T. That’s a big jump from the 28T max of their BURD rear derailleur, putting you in the gearing range of the CX1 group.

Like the CX shifters, which work with Gevenalle’s own rear derailleur and other 10-speed road derailleurs, the GX gets a modified Microshift lever set attached to a Tektro lever bodies…but even those have been heavily customized and improved…

Gevenalle has been making quite a bit of headway lately, offering everything from mechanical and hydraulic brake levers matched to mechanical shift levers that can be set to either indexed or friction shift with models for short or long cable pull. One thing it can’t do (yet) is mate up to 11 speed cassettes.

But that didn’t stop Chez Velo, who wanted to use the simple, durable shifter lever combo to build up a slick 1×11 cyclocross bike, so they hacked it. By reversing the cable pull direction and mating a carbon SRAM TT shifter blade to it, they were able to make it work. But that’s really just the beginning of this incredibly cool build…

Gevenalle, formerly Retroshift, just released the BURD Front Derailleur/Chain Guide for cyclocross. Like their BURD rear derailleur, the “Blatantly Upgraded and Rebranded Derailleur” is a hacked, top-of-the-line Microshift component that they rebuilt to better serve ‘cross racers who demand reliable shifting in brutal conditions. The derailleurs, along with their standard pull, long pull, and hydraulic shift levers; and cassette spacer are giving cyclists an affordable and reliable – if not particularly pretty or light – alternative to Campagnolo, Shimano, and SRAM.

The folks at Gevenalle replaced the lightweight carbon Microshift cage with a smaller, rigid steel piece of their own design, and made some other secret tweaks, to make a derailleur that will best suit the relatively small gear range but huge shifting loads that differentiate cyclocross from road drivetrains. Gevenalle also claims that the FD is ideally suited to single ring chainguide use, thanks to limiter screws that allow the reinforced cage to be dialed in exactly where you want it.

I see a lot of bikes in this line of work, and honestly, it can take a lot to really blow me away these days. One builder has done just that this year at the Oregon Handmade Bicycle Show. Mr. Joseph Ahearne has assembled nothing short of a masterpiece. In fact, it was on display at the Portland Art Museum as part of a rotating exhibit during the Cyclepedia show they had.

The bike pictured above is a 26″ wheeled, breakaway touring rig constructed of polished stainless steel tubing from KVA. Why not XCR or Reynolds 953? Those tubesets are great for a race bike, but they are only offered in thin walled tubes that would not be well suited to a utilitarian build such as this one. KVA however, offers a thicker walled tubeset that is perfect for a long haul rig.

The frame is fillet brazed, and it’s one of the best examples of brazing I have laid eyes on. The fact that the is polished is really impressive, because now everyone can see the amazing workmanship that goes into each tube joint. The front and rear racks were custom made specifically for this bike. The front rack is convertible as well, allowing you to run just the upper, lower, or both sections depending on what you will be carrying. They are produced from cro-moly, as is the stem, and then the parts were chromed to match the rest of the bike.

The logo panel on the downtube is a laser cut piece if stainless that was left unpolished to stand out from the rest of the frame. Polished stainless fenders, a custom Black Star frame bag, vintage XTR parts kit, and retroshift round out the bike. The build took six weeks, working 10 – 12 hour days, seven days a week to completed. Want one for your very own? Well, it would take somewhere in the neighborhood of $25,000. Not bad for a piece of art you can use.

Head past the break for a full gallery of this bike, plus a look at his latest cycle truck in size huge.

I have had my eye on the All-City lineup for a while now. When the road oriented Mr. Pink and Spacehorse bikes dropped I knew I would own one of them. After careful deliberation I choose the Mr. Pink. Having always been a fan of the classic steel roadies of yesteryear, it just made sense. Once I chose the frameset, I had the not so easy task of deciding just exactly how the build was going to come together. In the end, the frame’s specs helped direct the build. Thanks to the large amount of tire clearance, and a somewhat relaxed road geometry, the build turned into a go anywhere project for road, commuting, and even some cyclocross riding.

Aaron Dykstra builds beautiful bicycles in Roanoke, VA, under the moniker Six-Eleven Bicycle Co. In 2011, he took home the award for best track bike at NAHBS. In 2012, another award was earned for best cyclocross bike. While no awards came to Six-Eleven this year, personally, it was my favorite booth at the show. Aaron brought customer bikes (save one) to the show that oozed class, performance, and beauty.

Up first is this fine example of a “lugged” mountain bike. The customer for this ride had requested a classy looking mountain bike. Aaron set to work designing a lugged MTB, only to find he couldn’t find lugs that worked for his application So, he took existing lugs that he liked, cut them into three pieces and then brazed the frame and lugs together. The desired result of classy was certainly achieved.

Past the break you get more of this bike, plus some wild paint, lightweight steel, and a sparkly purple track bike…

44 Bikes is a small shop out of New England that builds custom steel road and mountain bikes and, in the case of the Huntsman shown here, bikes that serve a multitude of purposes.

The Huntsman is laid out to work equally well on pavement and off, for gravel or cyclocross. The build shown here is for exploring rougher stretches thanks to the splayed out bars and Retroshift brifters. The chainstays are flattened to add a bit of compliance, aided by the thinner seat tube/post spec. Once the bike is built, the headtube gets a 44 Bikes badge and the seat tube gets a special badge with your own lucky number.